Cascade control system for networks units

ABSTRACT

Cascade control logic for use in a switch or other network unit that can be used in a cascaded stack can maintain normally a point-to-point half-duplex connection for control data with each of the next preceding and next succeeding units in the cascade. Each cascade logic device is organised so that for one direction, conveniently called the up direction, a device is a master and in the other direction the device is a slave in respect of the control path. A control device will generate master control frames in the up direction and deliver slave control frames in the down direction. The control device is organised so that in the absence of reception of valid control frames on a control link control data which would otherwise be sent out on that link is looped back within the control device. In this manner the control device can maintain under normal circumstances two virtual control channels which can ‘self-heal’ notwithstanding the failure or powering-down of a unit in the cascade.  
     Status information represented by the control frames can be used to control a switching engine to provide self healing of the data path in the cascade.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] Donoghue et al., entitiled ‘Cascade system for network units’ filed on the same day as the present application and commonly assigned herewith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to communication networks. More particularly the invention relates to networks compatible with ‘Ethernet’ transmission formats and protocols. The invention specifically concerns what is known as the ‘cascading’ of switches or other units in or for such a network.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

[0003] The physical elements in a packet-based data communication system commonly include multi-port units such as switches and routers. Such units are commonly and conveniently manufactured with a fixed plurality of ports by means of which the units can be connected by way of appropriate transmission links (such as cables or optical fibres) to other units or user terminals. In order to provide greater versatility in constructing networks while minimising the number of different sizes of units that need to be deployed it is known as described in EP-0912944 and also various switches such as the Super Stack 3 Switch 3300 made by 3Com Corporation, to render the units ‘stackable’ by which is meant that a multiplicity of them can be interconnected to form effectively a single controllable entity. It is customary to make such units physically stackable in a column although this physical aspect of the term is not essential to the meaning of ‘stackable’ or to the present invention.

[0004] In order to provide intercommunication between the units, so that for example packets received at any of the ordinary ports (commonly termed ‘front panel’ ports) can be forwarded from a port or ports on another unit or units, (depending on the addressing of the packets and the nature of them, it is customary to connect stacked units together by means of a cascade, which is the term used for the communication links and associated control functions by means of which packets are transmitted between the units in the stack.

[0005] The design and organisation of a cascade are attended by some considerable complexity. For example, the forwarding of packets on the cascade has to be controlled according to a variety of rules which are intended to conform, for each particular unit, to the forwarding rules relevant for different types of packet, such as unicast, broadcast and multicast, as well as other relevant rules such as those relating to bridging. The rules may need to be preserved or modified to make the operation of the cascade more convenient or more versatile. Furthermore, as will be more particularly appreciated hereinafter, it is desirable to employ a packet format which accommodates information particular to the operation of the cascade.

[0006] Although very simple cascades can be constituted by means of ordinary communication links between ports on a stack of similar or compatible devices, a variety of operational desiderata or network constraints require a cascade connection to be rather more sophisticated and produce greater difficulties in design. For example, if a high performance cascade connection is to be maintained while providing fair access to the cascade connection for all the units in the stack, it is a practical desirability for the conveyance of certain control or status information to the all the units of the stack so that, for example, an arbitration protocol may be observed. Such an arbitration protocol usually requires such data as the number of units in the stack and preferably also some identification number for each of those units. Furthermore, it is a desirable feature of a cascaded stack that notwithstanding the powering-down or failure of one of the units in the stack, it can continue to operate in respect of the remaining units in the stack. A similar desirable feature is the accommodation of ‘hot’ insertion or swapping of units in the stack.

[0007] To some extent information in respect of the stack may be accommodated within packets which are forwarded onto the cascade. Examples are given by published GB patent applications 2359692 and GB-2361830 which allow for the incorporation within a packet header of fields that identify which of the units have ports that are members of a trunked connection to the stack. However, the inclusion of control or status data relating to the units within packet headers is generally inconvenient if at to all feasible.

[0008] It is know from the 3Com switch type 4400 to provide a cascaded stack of units for which a data path (for packets) and a control path (for status and control information) can be maintained despite the powering-down of one or more units. The system relies on 3-port connectors which have a port for connection of data packets and control frames to and from an associated unit and two other ports which maintain a data path and a control path around the cascade. The system is quite versatile but the connectors, known as T-pieces, employed in the practical system represent a considerable hardware ‘overhead’ which is particularly significant as the operating frequencies increase, owing to, for example, the need for active clock recovery circuits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] One object of the present invention is to provide an improved and versatile control path by means of which units in a cascade connection can exchange control information such as the number and operational status of the units.

[0010] A further object of the invention is to provide a control path which can be operationally maintained despite an ‘operational failure’ of or between units. Such an ‘operational failure’ may be either the removal or powering-down, for whatever reason, of a unit so that it does not communicate properly with a neighbour, or the failure or removal of a link between units.

[0011] A specific preferred form of the invention includes a control device (otherwise called cascade control logic) or the like which may be provided, either permanently or preferably by way of a ‘card’ insert, and which will maintain normally a point-to-point half-duplex connection for control data with each of the next preceding and next succeeding units in the cascade. Each such logic device may be organised so that for one direction, conveniently called the up direction, a device unit is a master and in the other direction the device is a slave in respect of the control path. A control device will generate master control frames in the up direction and deliver slave control frames in the down direction. The control device is preferably organised so that in the absence of reception of valid control frames on a control link control data which would otherwise be sent out on that link is looped back within the control device.

[0012] In this manner the control device can maintain under normal circumstances two virtual control channels which can ‘self-heal’ notwithstanding the failure or powering-down of a unit in the cascade.

[0013] One important aspect of the invention is in a cascade that can provide ‘self-healing’ in respect of the data path, i.e. for inter-unit packet transmission. Although a variety of mechanisms may be employed for that purpose, the invention is particularly intended for use in conjunction with the data path which is the subject of the aforementioned co-pending application entitled ‘Cascade system for network units’ filed on the same day as the present application. That application, the relevant features of which are described more particularly hereinafter, relies on the provision of a cascade connection in the form of a dual unidirectional connection so that in its ordinary configuration there is at least one and preferably two unidirectional rings for each direction of progress of data packets around the cascade. Each ring includes a respective cascade port on each unit and for each ring each port on the unit is connected by a respective link to a corresponding port on the preceding unit and the following unit. The significance of that arrangement is that in respect of data packets, the switching engines of the units can, in the event of a properly monitored failure or powering-down of one unit in the cascade, redirect packets that would normally be sent to that unit so that they are looped back within the preceding and succeeding units and are retransmitted from those units in a direction opposite that in which they are received respectively by those units. Thus a self-healing data path is provided.

[0014] However, the utility of the cascade control system is not confined to the cascade architecture just described. In GB Patent No. 2357390 there is described a cascaded stack of units which includes a bidirectional data path that can continue to function despite a failure in a link between units and to function partially in the event of powering-down of one of the units. The system is based on the use of special forwarding rules and the conveyance of ‘hop count’ data in a field within the packets on the cascade. A version of the present invention could be used to convey status and control data between the units in a cascaded stack arranged generally according to GB Patent No. 2357390.

[0015] It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a convenient means of conveying, to the units having such a self-healing connection control and status data relating to the units, such as a unit identification, a list of units in the cascade, a list of powered units and other information which can be employed by the relevant units and which are not convenient or not feasible of conveyance within the data packets on the data path.

[0016] A further object of the invention is to enable the cascade to be constituted by means of links such as cables coupled between cascade ports of the units in the cascade without the need for special multiplexing connectors such as T-pieces which would be required to plug into special modules or ports of the units.

[0017] Further features of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a switch for use in the invention.

[0019]FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the operation of a cascade connection in accordance with the invention.

[0020]FIG. 4 illustrates a packet including cascade status information.

[0021]FIG. 5 illustrates a cascade algorithm.

[0022]FIG. 6 illustrates schematically a cascade card in a switch.

[0023]FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of cascade control logic.

[0024]FIG. 8 illustrates a link layer frame format.

[0025]FIG. 9 illustrates frame traffic at a link layer.

[0026]FIG. 10 illustrates logic blocks for cascade control logic.

[0027]FIG. 11 illustrates control frame data.

[0028]FIG. 12 is a state diagram.

[0029]FIG. 13 illustrates an algorithm for unit identification numbers.

[0030]FIG. 14 illustrates an algorithm for the control logic.

[0031]FIG. 15 illustrates a register format.

[0032]FIG. 16 illustrates another register format.

[0033]FIG. 17 illustrates another register format.

[0034]FIG. 18 illustrates a switch unit in accordance with the invention.

[0035]FIG. 19 illustrates various register fields in a normal mode of operation.

[0036]FIG. 20 illustrates various register fields in a healed mode of operation.

[0037]FIG. 21 illustrates various register fields in another healed mode of operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] (a) General Description of a Switch

[0039] The reader is presumed to be generally familiar with the design construction and operation of network switches and routers intended for the handling and processing of address data packets, particularly according to Ethernet formats and protocols and procedures in accordance, for example, with IEEE Standard 802.3 dated December 1998. However, for the sake of completeness, a brief and deliberately simplified review of a network switch is given hereinafter for the sake of convenience. A more detailed description of the features of the switch relevant to the present invention will be given with reference to FIG. 18.

[0040] The switch 1 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a multiplicity of ordinary or ‘front panel’ ports represented in the Figure by ports 2 to N. Very typically there would be twelve or perhaps twenty-four of these front panel ports, which are selectively connected to other devices such as hubs, switches, user terminals and suchlike typical of a communication network.

[0041] The switch shown in FIG. 1 also has four ‘cascade’ ports which will be connected in a cascade connection according to the invention.

[0042] Associated with each port is a ‘port ASIC’ (2 a-6 a and Na) which provides, typically, for buffering of packets received at the respective port or to be forwarded (depending on whether it is forwarding or receiving a packet) from the port. The port ASIC typically performs some preliminary or final processing of a packet. The ports are usually capable of standard procedures such as ‘auto-negotiation’, by means of which the port can establish whether the device at the far end of the link to which the port is connected is active and whether it has a transmission capability compatible with the respective port.

[0043] Although the port ASICs are shown as discrete in the Figure, in modern design practice the port ASICs together with most if not all the components of the switch may be realised in a single large ASIC, indicated by the chain lines 7. Alternatively it may be realised as described hereinafter.

[0044]FIG. 1 illustrates a system of buses 8 by means of which packet data, address data from the packets, control data and suchlike are communicated around the various components of the switch. Again, the bus system is shown in deliberately simplified form. Very typically there are separate bus paths for the various types of signals. One example of a modern switch layout is described in Creedon et al, Ser. No. 09/893,659 filed Jun. 29, 2001 and commonly assigned herewith.

[0045] Very typically, each switch has a controlling CPU 9 which governs the operation of the components of the switch. These include a packet memory 10 for the storage of packets between the times of reception and forwarding. Typically the switch includes a forwarding database 11 to which a look-up engine 12 has recourse and in accordance with which a switching engine 13 can derive from the look-up the address data and/or other associated data required for forwarding the packet to its required destination. The switch includes a multiplicity of control and status registers 14.

[0046] Normally the forwarding database stores addresses (which may be MAC addresses or network addresses) against the relevant forwarding data (i.e. port numbers). A look-up database is typically compiled by performing a look-up in respect of the source address of an incoming packet and making an entry in the database if the source address is not already held in the database.

[0047] The addresses in the database may be organised in a variety of different forms according to the search engine or engines employed. Some types of database employ hashing of address data in order to reduce long address words into shorter words for storing in a memory, though in such a case it is necessary to provide linked lists of entries which are hashed to the same address and to compare search results in turn to determine whether they correspond to the correct input data. Other forms of look-up include trie look-ups.

[0048] Different forms of forwarding database and techniques for performing look-ups are well described in for example GB patents 2337674, 2337659 and 2350534.

[0049] When a look-up is performed on a destination address, the forwarding data is retrieved and used by the switching engine 13 to direct the relevant placket to the required port or ports.

[0050] It should be well understood that if a packet is received at a ‘front-panel’ port of one of the units, it will be temporarily stored while a look-up based on the address data is performed. If the retrieved forwarding data indicates that the only local destination is a port on the same unit, the switching engine will direct the packet to that port. If a destination port is unknown or is known but on another unit, the packet will be forwarded onto the cascade.

[0051] The foregoing is deliberately simplified and does not include such known operations as address resolution where addresses are unknown. It does not include well known features of processing which may affect whether a packet is forwarded from any given port. These aspects are, for example, ‘same port discard’ rules, VLAN membership, spanning tree logic, trunking logic and suchlike. Such processing features are commonly included in the operation of a switching engine. Moreover, the foregoing description does not take into account the distribution of processing that may be adopted if, for example, the switch is composed of a multiplicity of modules connected by high-speed internal links. Reference may be made for example to prior copending applications Ser. Nos. 09/645,569 (Jennings et al) and 09/818,670 (O'Callaghan et al) for further description of distributed processing in switches of this nature.

[0052] If a packet is received which is destined for a device not connected to the unit by which the packet was received, the packet is sent, subject to various processing requirements, to the cascade. In the switch shown in the drawing there are four ‘cascade’ ports. In general, a packet may be sent to any one of those ports and whichever that might be can be determined by hashing (for example by means of exclusive-OR circuits) address data in the packet to a short word, such as a two-digit word which will identify uniquely the selected port. Hashing procedures of this general nature are known from, for example, GB application 2361830 and may be included in the packet processing described above. As will be further apparent, it is necessary to include some means by which the packet will, be transmitted by subsequent units in a consistent direction around the cascade.

[0053] For reasons which will soon be apparent each of the cascade ports has two ‘connectors’ , one for the ‘Up’ direction and one for the ‘Down’ direction, so that each port can be connected to the corresponding port in the next and previous units in the cascade.

[0054] (b) Cascade Connection

[0055] The cascade connection shown in FIG. 2 is in essence a trunk connection made up of four unidirectional rings. Unit 0 shows the four cascade ports denoted A, B, C and D from left to right. The four rings in this specific example are each capable of a transmission rate of 2.5 gigabit per second and are so connected that they connect respective ports on the various units. Thus ring RA connects the ports A on the four units and is composed of links each from the TX side of a port A to the RX side of the corresponding port A of the next unit; ring RB connects the ports B, ring RC connects the ports C and ring RD connects the ports D. The organisation is such that whereas ports A and B receive packets on the respective links from the ports A and B of the preceding unit on the cascade and forward by way of the respective link to the respective ports on the next unit on the cascade, the direction of receiving and forwarding for ports C and D is reversed.

[0056] The links between the units are each point to point connections each of which forms an individual MAC domain. As will be seen, the individual links are almost standard Ethernet links with some additional signalling to enable the cascade to function. All packets will normally be subject to the switching engine of each unit.

[0057] It should also be remarked that some means needs to be employed to ensure that where, for example, a given unit receives a packet on port A but needs to forward that packet further round the ring, that packet will be sent out on the same port A in a consistent direction. One method of achieving this is for all the units to employ the same hashing algorithm for cascade port selection on some packet segment (e.g. a network address) which will not vary as the packet progresses around the cascade.

[0058] It may also be denoted at the present stage that the cascade is preferably source-routed. When a unit receives a packet on a front-panel port it will perform a full look-up for the destination unit and port even if the packet is destined for another unit. The advantage of such a technique is that no look-up bandwidth is required for cascade port ingress. Units need to learn packet source addresses (SA) against the ingress port and unit. If look-up tables are to remain current then all the units have to update their look up tables whenever a unit is removed from the stack. This may be achieved by way of the normal ‘learning’ process of the look-up databases in the various units.

[0059] (c) Cascade Path Healing

[0060]FIG. 3 illustrates a circumstance where Unit 2 has failed or is powered-down preparatory to removal. As described later, cascade control logic monitors the status of the cascade units and in particular whether there is communication on all the links in the cascade and reports the powering-down of Unit 2 to the other units on the cascade. As further described in more detail later, the switching engines, each under the control of the respective CPU, will take the following actions to heal the cascade.

[0061] Unit 3 will loop back packets from ports C and D to ports A and B. More specifically, this unit will process packets that are received on either port C or port D and retransmit those packets on ports A and B. Likewise, Unit 1 will loop back packets from ports A and B to its own ports C and D. It will process packets received on ports A and B and retransmit packets on ports C and D.

[0062] However, Unit 0 (which is not adjacent the powered-down Unit 2) will operate differently. When it receives a packet on either port A or port B then any packets destined for Unit 1 or Unit 3 will be retransmitted on those ports. Any packets received on ports C and D will be retransmitted on those ports without any processing. This action is called herein ‘bypassing’ and can be controlled by means of information which identifies where there is absence of communication between units. This information may be conveyed by the control frames described later.

[0063] Unit 0 in this example must perform a bypass operation because otherwise packets destined for Unit 3 could be caught in an endless loop. For example, if Unit 1 transmitted out of port C (or D) towards Unit 0 a packet that would normally have gone to Unit 2 and would normally ‘hash’ to port A or B, this packet would be received on port C or port D of Unit 0. If Unit 0 were in a normal operational mode it would perform a hash to decide which port should transmit the packet. If the packet were transmitted out of port A or B then the packet would return to Unit 1. Then this Unit 1 would retransmit to the packet to Unit 0, thereby forming an endless loop causing the packet to circulate continuously and never reach its proper destination.

[0064] As noted previously, powering-down of a unit is not the only cascade communication failure which can be ‘healed’. If for example there is a link failure, which might even be an accidental removal of a cable, between two ports, a similar healing process can be executed. For example, suppose there is a link failure between cascade port A of Unit 2 and cascade port A of Unit 3. Then the packets which would normally leave cascade port A of Unit 2 in the Up direction can be looped-back to exit from port C or port D in the Down direction. In such a case both Unit 1 and Unit 0 need to be in the bypass mode so that the packets reach Unit 3 by way of the cascade ports C (or D) of Unit 1, Unit 0 and Unit 3.

[0065] (d) Cascade Status Information

[0066] The preferred cascade protocol requires that 32 bits of data be included with the frame as it is sent internally in the stack from one unit to another. These 32 bits of data are sent in a header at the start of the frame. Frames sent on the cascade may be sent with a 64 bit inter-packet-gap to allow for this. The CRC of the frame may also cover the cascade header.

[0067] When a unit receives a packet, it will perform, if the packet is to egress from a port on the same unit, the usual packet processing functions, which need not be described here in detail. If the packet is to be sent on the cascade, it is provided with a header which includes certain information, called herein ‘cascade information’ that is used by a unit that receives the packet to determine (as will be described later), in conjunction with the setting of various registers, the appropriate processing for the packet received on the cascade. As will be explained later, the registers are controlled by means of control data sent around the cascade on a control path and are set in accordance with the numbering of the units, which of the units are active or not and other information to be outlined.

[0068]FIG. 4 illustrates in simplified form a packet 41 which is sent onto the cascade by a unit in accordance with the invention. The packet 41 has a start of frame (SOF) sequence 42, a ‘cascade header’ 43, a MAC address section 44, a network data section 45, a payload section 46, a CRC (cyclic redundancy code] section 47 and an end of frame (EOF) section 48.

[0069] The section 43 will be described below. It comprises the 32 bits of cascade information mentioned earlier. The information is inserted during the ‘processing’ of a packet by the switching engine.

[0070] The section between 43 and 44 may be occupied by some internal control sequence to delimit the start of the section 44, which is the layer 2 or MAC address section occupied by a destination address (DA) and a source address (SA). These are in conventional 48-bit form including the usual bits to indicate whether the packet is unicast, broadcast or multicast.

[0071] Section 45, entitled ‘Network’ is intended to signify network (IP) addresses VLAN data and other parts which are of no great significance to the present invention.

[0072] Section 46 is the message part or payload of the packet, consisting of a multiplicity of bytes of user data.

[0073] Section 47 is the CRC or cyclic redundancy check portion which is normally (apart from the end of frame sequence 48) computed on all or part of the frame and is used to determine whether a frame has been received without error. The CRC may be (in known manner) computed for the packet including the header 43.

[0074] Cascade Header

[0075] The special ‘cascade header’ 43 for the present invention includes seven fields as explained below.

[0076] The first cascade header field (i), denoted ‘SrcPortID[8:0], is the source port number in the stack that receives the frame.

[0077] This identification number and the destination port identification (DestPID) conform to a stack-wide format, wherein a portion of the identification number, and particularly the (least significant) bits [6:0] represents port numbering within a unit and another portion, particularly the (more significant) bits [8:7], represents the particular unit. Thus the cascade system or stack can in this example accommodate up to four units each having up to 128 ports. The format may be modified to accommodate more units. If eight units were the intended limit of the stack the ‘UnitID’ portion of the ID field could be augmented to three bits.

[0078] One advantage of such a format is that in most instances the source unit (which is the first unit in the stack to receive a packet from the external network) can perform a complete look-up for the destination port. Source port IDs for previously unknown addresses may be learnt in all the units to facilitate the performance of destination look-up in the source unit.

[0079] The second field in the cascade header is denoted SrcTrunkID[4:0]. This is the trunk number of the source port that receives the frame, if the source port be a member of a trunk.

[0080] This field is for the (known) purpose of identifying a trunk connection to a multiplicity of ports which may be distributed among the units in the stack, the trunk consisting of a multiplicity of essentially parallel links from those ports to a remote entity which may be a single switch but might be another stack of switches. The purpose of a trunk is to increase the bandwidth available for transmissions from one unit or entity to another. The connection of trunks to switches in a stack produces some complexity in the manner in which packets are forwarded on the cascade and although trunking and the difficulties of coping with it are not part of the present invention it needs to be said that the logic required for dealing with stack wide trunks preferably responds to an identification of a particular trunk so that units which receive packets by way of the cascade can determine whether such packets come from a trunk connection and, if so, which trunk connection. Examples of the handling of a stack wide trunk and the various modifications which need to be made to such rules as the ‘same port discard’ rule (in accordance with IEEE 802.1) are set out in published GB patent applications GB-2359692 and GB-2361830.

[0081] The third field in the cascade header is a one-bit field denoted ‘DPK’ . This is merely an acronym for ‘destination port known’. If this bit in the header is set, the bit indicates that the destination port for the frame is also carried in the cascade status header (see below). This bit enables the forwarding of such a frame when it is received by the unit having that destination port, without another look-up.

[0082] The fourth field in the cascade header is a single bit field termed herein ‘unknown DA’ i.e. ‘unknown destination address’. When this bit is set, it indicates that the destination MAC address (DA) in a packet received (by way of a front panel port) by a unit in the cascade is not found in the look-up database of that switch. Each unit in the stack will treat the destination address as an unknown entry. This applies to both unicast and multicast addresses.

[0083] The fifth field of the cascade header is the destination port identification ‘DestPID[8:0]’. This field conforms to the format discussed in relation to the source identification and uniquely identifies a destination port and the relevant unit in the stack for the frame if the ‘destination port known’ field is set. If this latter field is cleared, the ‘destination port ID’ field is ignored.

[0084] The sixth field in the cascade header is the box bit mask field, BBM[3:0]. This field which is obtained as described hereinafter from a ‘units present’ register in a respective source unit, indicates by the setting of the respective bit the units which the relevant packet has already visited. Thus, if the bits indicate, from left to right, the Units 3 to 0 respectively, and the placket is received at Unit 1, then the box bit mask for the packet as it is put on the cascade by Unit 1 is 1101, that is to say all the units less the source unit. Unless an ingress port is in a bypass mode, as more particularly described later, a unit will, as part of the processing performed on the packet, clear the respective bit in the box bit mask. Reference is made below to FIG. 5 for a fuller description of how the box bit mask is handled.

[0085] The final field in the cascade header is a ‘drop precedence’ field constituted by a single bit. This bit is derived from the rules engine in the (source) unit in which the packet is first received. It is used at egress ports to determine the drop threshold for the egress or transmit queue. If the bit is set, the lower drop threshold is used to determine if the packet is to be added to the queue. Otherwise the ‘queue full’ threshold is used when adding the packet. In essence the drop precedence field may be employed to give certain packets a higher priority within the stack.

[0086] Box Bit Mask

[0087]FIG. 5 illustrates the manner in which the box bit mask field (BBM) is employed. This bit mask field does not affect the manner in which known unicast packets are normally handled. These packets, for which the destination port will be known, will be removed from the cascade ring by the destination unit. However, in the case of a change to the stack, for example reconfiguration which may cause the destination unit to be removed, the bit mask is required. It is also required to prevent recirculation of a packet.

[0088] As is shown in FIG. 5, the packet is received at a unit from the cascade. This is stage 501. Stage 502 is a test to determine whether the unit is in a cascade ‘bypass’ mode. If it is, then no processing is performed on the packet, as indicated by the ‘do nothing’ stage 503. The packet will be forwarded from the same port as received the packet, as described with reference to FIG. 3 and later with reference to FIG. 20.

[0089] Stage 504 is a test to determine whether the relevant box bit mask bit for the unit is set. If the bit is not set, then as shown by stage 505 the packet must be removed because it has traversed the ring already.

[0090] If the respective box bit mask bit is set, then a test (stage 506) for whether the destination port is known for the packet determines, if it be not known, a look-up (stage 507). If the destination look-up obtains a destination port on this unit, the packet will be forwarded from the respective local port. Otherwise the packet is destined for the cascade. If the destination port is known, there is a test, stage 511, to see whether the destination port is on this unit. This requires only a simple bit match rather then a full ‘look-up’. If the destination port is on the respective unit, the packet is sent to the local port (stage 512) and removed from the ring. If the destination port is not on the respective unit, the box bit mask bit is cleared (stage 508). If the bit mask bits are all zero (stage 509), then the packet must be removed (stage 510) because there are no more destination units. If there is one or more set bits remaining in the box bit mask, the packet may be sent to the ring (stage 513).

[0091] Cascade Control Logic

[0092] The cascade which has been described in the foregoing and is the subject of the aforementioned copending application requires in practice, in addition to the status information carried in the header of the packets, some control information which is passed between the units and which will enable them to be configured or reconfigured in a manner which will enable them to redirect packets and, in the case of a ‘bypass’ mode, to perform no redirection, in accordance with the status of the units and links within the stack. The control logic that is now described is, in its specific form, intended for use with the described self-healing mechanism for the data path. However, as indicated elswhere, the control logic may be used in other systems and is therefore not limited to use in the system specifically described in the foregoing. The status information obtained by the cascade control logic may for example be used in a system such as described in GB-2357390

[0093] The preferred form of cascade control is, in accorance with the invention and as described in the following, an active system wherein in normal operation the units transmit various status parameters, which enable the units to compute their identification number (called herein ‘unit ID’), to determine a list of units which are present in the cascade, and a list of which units are powered units within the cascade, and preferably also to inform the respective CPU of a variety of faults in the cascade. The preferred form of the cascade control is capable of performing self-healing in the event of removal of a unit or cable.

[0094] As described earlier, known cascade units which can tolerate hot insertion and removal, and provide a degree of self healing, employ T-pieces which can maintain a data path and a control path around the cascade notwithstanding the powering-down or removal of one of the units. It is advantageous in the context of the present invention to provide a control path which does not require connectors with internal multiplexers and which can provide for ‘self-healing’ in the event of removal of one of the units or cables in the cascade. The configuration employed for the control path is a chain of bi-directional, half duplex’ links, each link extending from one unit to the next in a daisy chain of the units around the control path. On each link, in normal operation, the respective units will exchange information in a time shared manner. This information is preferably exchanged continually and is derived from registers within the cascade control logic in each unit.

[0095]FIG. 6 illustrates schematically the disposition of the cascade control logic within one of the switch units previously described.

[0096] The switch unit 61 shown in FIG. 6 operates in a manner similar to that functionally described with reference to FIG. 1. In this embodiment, it is physically organised somewhat differently to the apparent physical arrangement in FIG. 1, in that it is composed of a group 62 of four switch modules 63, each of which is a multiple port module. These switch modules communicate between themselves by means of high speed links in the manner described in, for example, the aforementioned applications Ser. Nos. 09/645,569 and 09/818,670. However, the internal organisation of the switch module 62 is not particularly relevant to the present invention and it is sufficient to indicate that the modules operate as a single switch in respect of the combined set of ports that the modules have and are organised to forward onto the cascade or receive from the cascade packets on line 64 which are coupled to the four cascade ports previously described.

[0097] The cascade control logic is designed to monitor the cascade and to provide the following functions: (i) to provide the respective unit with a Unit ID; (ii) to provide the respective unit with a ‘List of Units Present’; (iii) to provide the respective unit with a ‘List of Powered Units’; and (iv) to inform the CPU of cascade faults

[0098] The Cascade Control Logic (CCL) 66 may be implemented as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) that is accommodated on a cascade downlink card 65. The interface between the CCL 66 and CPU 9 is a Serial Management Interface (SMI) 68 as defined by IEEE 802.3-1998 Clause 22. The CPU is able to interrogate registers internal to the CCL. The registers contain information such as the Unit ID, the List of Active Units and the cascade link status. The CCL is able to inform the CPU of an urgent event via an interrupt signal 69.

[0099] The links 67 denoted Up-Control and Down_Control are bi-directional half-duplex serial links. The Up_Control signal path of a unit is connected to the Down_Control signal path of the next unit in the stack, in a daisy-chain fashion. Signalling on the bi-directional links is controlled by a master-slave relationship, the CCL generating the Up_Control signal being the master. Transmission of frames alternates between the master and slave, as described with reference to FIG. 9.

[0100] As is particularly shown in FIG. 7, the cascade control logic 66 receives a signal, denoted ‘Unit_Power_Sense’ in accordance with the state of energisation of the particular unit. It exchanges information by way of the SMI Bus 68 with the central processing unit (CPU) and can provide interrupt signals on an interrupt line 69.

[0101] The cascade control logic 66 transmits control frames to, and receives control frames from, the cascade control logic 66 a for the next unit by way of a line denoted ‘Up_Control’, which is a single line coupled to ground by a pull-down resistor 71. The cascade control logic 66 receives control frames from, and transmits control frames to, the cascade control logic 66 c in the unit next below it by way of a Down_Control line having pull-down resistor 72. FIG. 7 shows the completion of the daisy chain by CCL 66 b and 66 c , each of the cascade control logic units (66-66 c ) being connected by way of its Up_Control line to the Down_Control line of the control unit next ‘above’ it in the chain and also being connected by way of its ‘Down_Control’ line to the ‘Up_Control’ line of the cascade control logic in the unit next ‘below it’ in the chain.

[0102] The daisy-chain of bi-directional half-duplex links forms a complete ring. In normal operation this creates two virtual rings: one rotating clockwise and being the transmission direction for ‘master’ control frames, the other anti-clockwise, being the transmision direction for ‘slave’ control frames. If there is a break in the cascade wiring the control logic, and particularly its transport layer as described with reference to FIG. 10, can ‘loop-back’ frames. This allows the cascade control path to ‘heal’ in the same manner as the cascade data path.

[0103] The cascade control logic derives its power from a shared cascade VCC power line 73. This means that the CCL of a powered-off unit is still able to participate in Unit-ID numbering. The input Unit_Power_Sense indicates to the CCL whether the unit is powered up.

[0104] Although there is a variety of ways in which the units can be connected, it is convenient to employ between successive units a common cable which has a plurality of paths (in this example four) for data packets, a single control path and a single VCC line. The data paths may be twisted pairs or optical fibres. Each cascade port may have two multi-pin terminals, one each for the Up and Down directions.

[0105] Cascade Control Signals

[0106] The control frames shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are transmitted and received by the link layers which will be described with reference to FIG. 10.

[0107]FIG. 8 illustrates at 81 the waveform of the cascade control signals and at 82 the significance of each of the parts of the waveform.

[0108] The preamble of each control frame consists of the sequence 10101010. The chips (channel bits) of the preamble are T_(bit)/2 (1 us) in length, half the length of the normal data bits. Hence the preamble constitutes a unique sequence not found in the control data. The preamble is followed by 4 data bytes (each with an odd parity bit). The data bits are T_(bit) (2 us) in length. In FIG. 8, ‘B0, D0’ represents the first digit (bit) in the first byte and so on. The line is driven low for 2 us at the end of transmission, denoted by the ‘Idle Low’ (00) segment after which it is tri-stated (denoted by ‘Z’). The duration of each frame is therefore 82 us.

[0109] Control data is transferred between units in a half-duplex fashion. The CCL is a ‘master’ on Up_Control and a ‘slave’ on Down_Control. The ‘master’ transmits a control frame (shown as the ‘master frame’ 91 in FIG. 9 every T_(frame) (200 us). This is followed by an interval 92 of four times the bit period. Then the ‘slave’ transmits a control frame 93 after receiving the master's control frame. The end of the frame is defined as being the end of the 2 us ‘idle low’ interval. An idle interval 94 lasts until the end of the control cycle period (T_(frame)].

[0110] Control Link Layer

[0111]FIG. 10 illustrates in more detail the cascade control logic 66. It broadly comprises two link layers, link layer 101U, connected to the unit's ‘Up_Control’ link and link layer 110D, connected to the unit's ‘Down_Control’ link. The link layers transmit and receive 4-byte control frames between the adjacent units. They also indicate, by responding to the presence or absence of valid control frames, the status of the Up_Control and Down control links by means of the signals CTRL_OK_UP and CTRL_OK_DOWN respectively. Link layer 101D indicates the idle state of the Down_Control link on a line denoted ‘RESILIENT’.

[0112] Between the link layers is a transport layer 102 and a Field Update Block 103. The transport layer includes a first multiplexer 104 which is governed by the ‘Control_OK-Down’ signal. A second multiplexer 105 is controlled by the control OK-Up signal. Multiplexer 104 will pass either the Down Rx-Data obtained from the link layer 101D or the Down_Tx_Data which is supplied to the link layer 101D from a register set 106 denoted ‘Up_Regs’ . Multiplexer 105 will pass to the registers 106 either the Up_Rx_Data received from the link layer 101U or the Up_Tx_Data which is supplied to the link layer 101U from the Field Update Block. The Field Update Block receives the output of the multiplexer 104. It includes a register set 107 denoted ‘Down_Regs’, a processing function 108, and a register set 109 denoted ‘My-Regs’. It provides an output by way of the transport layer 102 to an input of the multiplexer 105 and to the ‘Up’ link layer 101U. Thus Up_Tx_Data is supplied to the Up_Control and, controllably, to the register set 106.

[0113] The Transport Layer 102 provides the 4-byte data content of transmitted control frames. The Link Layer returns the data content of received frames to the transport layer. The Link Layer discards received frames that contain parity errors.

[0114] The link layer 101D reads the idle state of the Down_Control line T_(bit)/2 (1 us) after the ‘idle low’ following transmission of the slave frame. The result is output on RESILIENT (see FIG. 10). If a normal cable is attached to Down_Control the weak pull-down on the line will ensure that the RESILENT is low (i.e. denotes FALSE). A resilient cable differs from a normal cable in that it has a strong (1K) pull-up on its control signal lines. This pull-up will ensure that RESILIENT returns TRUE if a resilient cable is attached to Down_Control.

[0115] At time T_(update) after reset and every T_(update) thereafter CTRL_OK_UP and CTRL_OK_DOWN are evaluated. CTRL_OK_UP is set to TRUE if at least one frame has been received on Up_Control in the preceding T_(update) (otherwise it is set to FALSE). Similarly, CTRL_OK_DOWN is set to TRUE if at least one frame has been received on Down_Control in the preceding T_(update).

[0116] Cascade Control Transport Layer

[0117] The purpose of the transport layers is to circulate a 4 byte data field through the cascade control logic of all units of the stack. The data is first generated by the Field Update Block (FUB) of the ‘bottom’ stack unit and circulates through the FUB of each stack unit, eventually returning to the bottom unit. It is essential that the order of data circulation through the FUBs is preserved, regardless of whether the cascade control signal path is healed or not.

[0118] Under normal operation (CTRL_OK_UP==TRUE and CTRL_OK_DOWN==TRUE) data from control frames received on Up_Control is written into the register set ‘Up_Regs’ 106. The Up_Regs register set is used as the source of data for frames transmitted on the Down_Control line. Data from frames received on the Down_Control line is written into the Down_Regs register set 107. This data is parsed and modified by the processing function 108 FUB before being written to the ‘My_Regs’ 109 register set. This set 109 is used as the source of data for frames transmitted on the Up_Control line.

[0119] If either of the signals CTRL_OK_UP and CTRL_OK_DOWN is FALSE then the control data paths are looped-back within the transport layer so as not to send the control data on the relevant control link. This effectively heals the (control frame data path so that data always passes through the FUB of each unit in the same order. There is not necessarily a one-to-one relationship between frames received on Down_Control and those transmitted on Up_Control (and vice-versa) since each port may have different master clocks which may differ slightly in frequency.

[0120] Consider again the stack labelled ‘Normal Operation’ in FIG. 2. Data generated by the FUB in Unit-0 will circulate (in a clockwise direction) through the FUB in Unit-1, Unit-2, Unit-3 and will then received by Unit-0 on Down_Control. Data will also circulate anti-clockwise through the Up_Regs its each unit. Since this data is not processed by the FUB it is meaningless. If the cable between Unit-1 and Unit-2 is disconnected, data generated by the FUB in Unit-0 will be written into the FUB of Unit-1. Since CTRL_OK_UP in Unit-1 is FALSE, the FUB data output (Up_Tx_Data) is looped-back (via Up_Regs) and sent out on Down_Control. This data is received on Up_Control on Unit-0 and is written into Up_Regs. The data is then re-sent out on Down_Control and is received by Up_Control on Unit-3. Unit-3 also transmits the data out of Down_Control without processing it. Unit-2 receives the data on Up_Control. Since CTRL_OK_DOWN on Unit-2 is FALSE, this data is looped-back into the FUB (via Up_Regs). The FUB processes the data and sends it out of Up_Control. The data is processed by the FUB in Unit-3 and is then sent out of Up_Control to Unit-0. The path of the data through the FUBs is Unit-0, Unit-1, Unit-2, Unit-3 and then back to Unit-0 as in normal operation.

[0121] Control Frame Data

[0122] The control frame data transmitted and received by the FUB 103 has the format shown in FIG. 11. An ‘idle’ frame has IDLE set to ‘1’. This indicates that only the first byte of the frame data is valid. ‘Active’ frames have IDLE set to ‘0’ and all the frame data is valid. HEAL_REQ and HEAL are used to indicate that the cascade data path must be healed by the CPU. RENUM_REQ and RENUM force the FUB to renumber all units in the stack MISCONFIG_REQ and MISCONFIG are used to signal a cascade cabling mis-configuration. CURRENT_CTRL is a list (in the form of a bit mask) of all units present in the stack; NEXT_CTRL is a temporary variable used in its calculation. CURRENT_POWER is a list (bit mask) of all units that are powered-up; NEXT_POWER is a temporary variable used in its calculation.

[0123] Primary & Secondary Status

[0124] The FUB 103 must decide whether the unit is a ‘primary’ or a ‘secondary’ unit. There should only be one primary unit in a stack and it processes control data in a different manner than secondary units. The primary unit initiates the transmission of ‘active’ control frames around the stack. If a primary unit does not initiate the transmission of active frames then secondary units will transmit ‘idle’ frames.

[0125]FIG. 12 shows how the FUB evaluates whether the respective unit is a primary or secondary unit. The signal ACTIVE_FRAMES is a signal internal to the FUB that is evaluated every T_(update) ACTIVE_FRAMES is set to TRUE if active frame data has been received by FUB at least once in the preceding T_(update) (otherwise it is set to FALSE).

[0126] If there is a resilient cable plugged into the unit's Down_Control then RESILENT==TRUE and the unit becomes a primary (at time T₁ after reset).

[0127] If there is no resilient cable between top and bottom units, a unit will not receive any active frames and it will become (at time T₂ or later) the primary if Down_Control is not connected to another unit (CTRL_OK DOWNS==FALSE).

[0128] If the resilient cable is replaced with a normal cable (i.e. all cascade cables are normal cables), there will be no unit with CTRL_OK_DOWN==FALSE and all units will remain secondary units. If the FUB of a secondary unit has received no active frames by time T₃ then it will set the MISCONFIG_REQ bit in its SMI register. The change in state of the SMI register MISCONFIG_REQ will also cause an interrupt to alert the CPU to the error condition.

[0129] If there is more than one resilient cable in the stack, most, but not all error conditions could be detected if the presence of a resilient cable on both Up_Control and Down_Control were checked. This mechanism fails in the case of a four-high stack with resilient cables between the top and bottom units and between the middle two units. The CPU can detect this combination and all others so it is preferable to leave checking for two resilient cables as a CPU task. For example, a stack management agent (SMA) in a primary unit could broadcast a special packet containing the unit's MAC address. If a primary unit's SMA received such a packet with an IP address not its own, then it would know that there are more than two primary units in the stack.

[0130] Unit-ID Numbers

[0131] The purposes of unit numbering are listed below in descending order of priority. The order of priority means that it is more important that units have ascending numbers than that that they retain their existing Unit-ID. So, if a unit is added to the bottom of a stack it is likely that units above it will need renumbering.

[0132] Each stack unit has a unique Unit-ID. It is desirable to provide newly powered-up units with a sequential Unit-ID (so that Unit-IDs increase in an ascending order from Unit-0 at the bottom of the stack). Jumps in the ascending order of unit numbers are acceptable.

[0133] Existing powered-up units retain their Unit-ID (provided this does not lead to non-sequential unit numbers). This minimises modification of lookup tables.

[0134] The algorithm that achieves these goals is expressed in Verilog code in FIG. 13. In FIG. 13 ‘my_regs_UNIT_ID’ refers to the parameter UNIT_ID in the ‘My_Regs’ registers. Similarly ‘down_regs_IDLE’ refers to the parameter IDLE in the ‘Down_Regs’ registers. The algorithm also deals with the error condition of the FUB receiving a frame with Unit-ID=3. This could occur in a four-unit stack where the bottom three units had Unit-IDs 0, 1 and 3. The fourth unit will transmit frames with RENUM_REQ set. The primary unit will receive this and transmit frames with RENUM set. causing all units in the stack to renumber to sequential Unit-IDs. She algorithm also checks for the condition of more than four units in the stack—in which case the fifth unit transmits frames with MISCONFIG_REQ set. The primary unit will copy this bit into the MISCONFIG bit of its frames, ensuring that all units are aware of the stack mis-configuration.

[0135] List of Powered Units and List of Units Present

[0136] A list (bit mask) of powered units (CURRENT_POWER[3:0]) is needed for the following reasons:

[0137] (a) To allow the CPU to purge the lookup table of entries relating to a non-powered unit.

[0138] (b) To allow the CPU to configure the switch so that only packets destined for a powered unit are forwarded on the cascade.

[0139] The list of units present (CURRENT_CTRL[3:0]) is the list of units participating in the control signal path. Since the cascade powers the CCL, the list of units present will also include units that are powered-off. This list is necessary to detect the condition of more than four units in a stack.

[0140] CURRENT_POWER[3:0] and CURRENT_CTRL[3:0] are compiled using the algorithm in FIG. 14. The algorithm makes use of the temporary variables NEXT_POWER[3:01 and NEXT_CTRL[3:0]. The primary unit initialises NEXT_POWER and NEXT_CTRL setting only the bit corresponding to its Unit-ID. Secondary units receiving this data set their bits within these fields. When this data returns to the primary unit NEXT_POWER and NEXT_CTRL form a complete list of the powered units and units present. The primary unit copies these fields across into CURRENT_POWER and CURRENT_CTRL.

[0141] The CPU is able to access the latest version of CURRENT_POWER via an SMI-bus accessible register. This information is used as a forwarding-mask for the switches such that only packets destined for active units are forwarded in the cascade data path.

[0142] Request Data Path Healing

[0143] All units in a stack will take action to heal the data path. If the reason for data path healing is a powered-down unit then all units will be aware of this since CURRENT_POWER and CURRENT_CTRL will differ. In the case of a missing cascade cable, the problem will be visible to adjacent units since either CTRL_OK_UP or CTRL_OK_DOWN will be set to FALSE. The FUB in these units should set the bit HEAL_REQ in active frames that they transmit. The FUB in the primary unit will copy this bit to HEAL, ensuring that all units are aware of the need to heal the cascade data path.

[0144] Interrupts

[0145] The Interrupt line to the CPU is asserted whenever one of the following SMI register values change: CURRENT_POWER, UNIT_ID, RENUM, MISCONFIG_REQ, MISCONFIG or HEAL. The interrupt stays asserted until reset by writing to a SMI register. Interrupts are initially disabled at power-up and are enabled by writing to a SMI register.

[0146] Time Sequence After Power-Up or Reset

[0147] In a first phase, 0 to T₁. the Link Layer will transmit and receive frames between adjacent units. Since there is no primary, these will be idle frames. The Link Layer will evaluate CTRL_OK_UP and CTRL_OK_DOWN every T_(update). The Transport Layer will loop-back the control data path if necessary T₁ is approximately 10 ms—enough time for the Link Layers to send out frames and the Transport Layer to have healed the control data path (by performing any necessary loop-backs).

[0148] In a second phase, T₁ to T₂, the FUB in each unit will determine primary or secondary status. If there is a resilient cable within the stack then the primary will begin to transmit active frames and unit numbering will proceed. Complete control frame data will be computed within 2 ms. This is the time taken for control data to circulate twice around the stack. [It takes 82 us for Unit-0 to transmit a frame to Unit-1. It takes up to 282 us (T_(frame)+duration of frame) to transmit a frame with this data from Unit-1 to Unit-2 since Unit-2 may have just started transmitting a frame with old data). It also takes up to 282 us to transmit a frame with this data from Unit-2 to Unit-3 and from Unit-3 to Unit-0. The total time to circulate control data around a stack is thus 3*T_(frame)+4*(duration of frame)=928 us. Time T₂ is approximately 100 ms—enough time for the active frames to have reached all units, if there is a primary present.

[0149] If a third phase, T2 to T3 is reached, no active frames are being received, the FUB in each unit will re-evaluate primary and secondary status. If there is a unit will CTRL_OK_DOWN==FALSE then it will become the primary and it will begin to transmit active frames. Unit numbering will proceed and complete control frame data will be computed within 2 ms. T₃ is approximately 200 ms—enough time for the active frames to have reached all units, if there is a primary present. If no primary is present, there must be a stack-cabling mis-configuration.

[0150] CCL Operation ExamplesConsider the stack of four units labelled as ‘Normal Operation’ in FIG. 2. Assume that the units are first powered up simultaneously. The Link Layers in each unit will exchange idle frames every T_(frame). At time T_(update) CTRL_OK_UP, CTRL_OK_DOWN will be evaluated as TRUE. As a result the Transport Layers in each unit's CCL will set up the control data paths without loop-back.

[0151] At time T₁ the FUB in each unit will evaluate its primary/secondary status. The bottom unit will become a primary and Unit-0 (since it has a resilient cable connected to Down_Control), The FUBs in other units will identify themselves as secondary units. The primary unit will start to transmit active frames on its Up_Control line containing Unit-ID=0, the signal CURRENT_POWER=4′b0000, the signal NEXT_POWER=4′b0001, CURRENT_CTRL=4′b0000 and NEXT_CTRL=4′b0001. The next unit up the stack will receive these values as part of frames on Down_Control. It set its Unit-ID=1, NEXT_POWER=4′b0011 and NEXT_CTRL=4′b0011 (in My_Regs) and will transmit frames with this data on Up_Control. The data will progress up the stack with the next units taking Unit-ID's 2 and 3. When the bottom unit (Unit-0) receives frames containing this data on Down_Control, it will copy NEXT_POWER (4′b1111) to CURRENT_POWER and NEXT_CTRL (4′b1111) to CURRENT_CTRL indicating 4 powered-up units in the stack.

[0152] To provide an example of an operational failure, suppose that a network engineer trips over a power cable and powers-down Unit-2. This is the configuration shown as ‘Healed Ring’ in FIG. 3. Since the CCL logic is powered by the cascade the control signal path is unaffected and control frames continue to circulate. However the Unit_Power_Sense line on the input to the CCL on Unit-2 will go low. The FUB in Unit-2 will set its bit in NEXT_POWER to ‘0’. The frame field CURRENT_POWER will change in all units to 4′b1011 indicating the lack of power to Unit-2. The CCL in all units will assert Interrupt to indicate the change in the cascade status. Units 1 and 3 will heal the cascade data path by looping-back the cascade data path. All units will update their forwarding tables to remove entries for Unit-2. The use of CURRENT_POWER to mask transmission of frames onto the cascade will quickly remove cascade packets destined for Unit-2.

[0153] The network engineer will eventually notice the problem and will plug the power cable back into Unit-2. The CCL all units will identify that Up_Control and Down_Control are now active and that power has been returned to Unit-2. CURRENT_POWER will be changed to 4′b1111 and CURRENT_CTRL to 4′b1111. The CCLs on all units will interrupt their CPU to alert them to re-read the CCL registers and update their forwarding tables. The state of the stack will quickly be healed into the topology labelled ‘Normal Operation’ in FIG. 2.

[0154] Timing Intervals

[0155] Table 1 is a summary of the timing periods employed in the preferred embodiment. TABLE 1 Symbol Description Value Units T_(bit) Control frame bit period. 2 us T_(frame) Time between start of transmission of 200 us each master control frame. T_(update) Time between updates of CTRL_OK_UP, 1 ms CTRL_OK_DOWN, and ACTIVE_FRAMES. T₁ Time after reset at which FUB evaluates 10 ms primary status based on presence of resilience cable. T₂ Time after reset at which FUB evaluates 100 ms primary status based on CTRL_OK_DOWN and absence of active frames. T₃ Time after reset at which FUB evaluates a 200 ms stack-cabling mis-configuration based on the absence of active frames.

[0156] Control Logic Registers

[0157]FIG. 15 to 17 illustrate the allocation of space in each of the registers in the cascade control logic.

[0158]FIG. 15 shows the register format for the ‘Up_Regs’ and ‘Down_Regs’. Each of these registers is a four byte register. Bit 0 of byte 0 if set indicates an idle state. The second byte, byte 1, has bytes indicating healing, a heal request, renumbering, a renumbering request, a misconfiguration and a misconfiguration request. Bits 7 and 8 are reserved. The first 4 bits of byte 2 comprises a four bit word indicating the next control. Bytes 4 to 7 of the second byte is a four bit word indicating a current control. The last byte, byte 3, is composed of two 4 byte words denoting ‘next power’ and ‘current power’.

[0159]FIG. 16 illustrates the register format for ‘My_Regs’ in the cascade control logic. This is similar to the format described in FIG. 15 but the register has an additional byte of which the bytes 0 and 1 denote the unit identification, bit 2 indicates ‘CTRL_OK_DOWN’, bit 3 denotes ‘CTRL_OK_UP’, bit 4 denotes ‘primary’, bit 5 denotes ‘resilience’, bit 6 denotes ‘My_Power’ and bit 7 denotes ‘Active_Frames’.

[0160]FIG. 17 illustrates the registers in the SMI memory map. The first five bytes correspond to the contents of the register described in FIG. 16. The ninth byte indicates the module identification number. The bits in the other bytes are reserved.

[0161] Cascade Operation

[0162] The following description provides examples of the usage of the cascade status information in the operation of the cascade shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. It also shows how the cascade control logic detects and distinguishes between the various kinds of operational failure and how theat logic and in particular the registers constitute with the CPU a means of responding to the status information represented by the control frames (or their absence) to control the switching engine. FIG. 18 shows a simplified view (based on FIG. 1) of the switch architecture. The four switch ASICs 63 of FIG. 6 have been represented as one block (as in FIG. 1) and their internal architecture simplified.

[0163]FIG. 18, shows within the ASIC 7 a bus system 8, a forwarding database 11, a look-up engine 12, a switching engine 13 and registers 14 as previously described with reference to FIG. 1. The memory space is shown in two parts for convenience. Part 10 a, denoted ‘Rx Queues’ stores received packets whereas part 10 b, denoted ‘Tx Queues’ stores packets which are ready for transmission from respective ports. FIG. 18 also shows media access controllers (MACs) which receive packets from and send packets to the physical ports. The MACs 182 . . . 18N on the left are each associated with a respective one of the ‘front panel’ ports 2 . . . N whereas the MACs 183, 184, 185 and 186 are each associated with a respective one of the ‘cascade’ ports 3 to 6. Each MAC 183-186 receives data signals (packets) from and sends such signals to the respective port and thereby forms a respective MAC domain with the MAC at the other end of the link to which the respective port is connected.

[0164] The CPU 9 is shown for convenience separate from the ASIC 7. It is coupled to the cascade control logic 66 in the manner described with reference to FIG. 6.

[0165]FIGS. 19 and 20 illustrate the CCL register fields in normal operation (as in FIG. 2) and in self-healing operations (FIG. 3).

[0166] The Cascade in Normal Operation

[0167] When a placket is received on one of the front ports 2 to N shown on the left-hand side of FIG. 18, the packet passes through the MAC and is temporarily stored in the ‘Rx Queues’ portion of the memory. The switching engine 13 will read the layer-2 source and destination address from the header of the packet. The look-up engine 12 will (with recourse to database 11) determine the destination port of the packet. If the packet is destined for another front-panel port it will be forwarded to the Tx Queue associated with that port. If the look-up engine 12 determines that the packet is destined for the cascade then it will be forwarded to the Tx Queue of one of the cascade ports. The cascade is a trunk of four ports so a hash is first computed (based typically on the Layer-2 or Layer-3 source and destination addresses) which determines which of the four ports will transmit the packet. Packets in the Tx Queues are transmitted on the ports on a first-in, first-out basis.

[0168] The CPU 9 is able to determine the status of the stack by reading registers within the Cascade Control Logic (CCL). In general it will need to do this once soon after power-up. The CPU does not need to periodically examine the CCL registers since the CCL will interrupt the CPU in the event of a change in stack status.

[0169] As may be seen in FIG. 19, in normal operation the ‘CURRENT—POWER’, ‘CURRENT_CTRL’ fields are all ‘1’ and the CTRL_OK UP and CTRL_OK_DOWN fields are each ‘1’, whereas the ‘HEAL’ field is ‘0’.

[0170] Cascade Operation in the Transition from Normal to Healed Mode

[0171] Now consider that the power for Unit-2 is removed. The CCL signalling mechanism described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 16 will quickly (within approximately 2 ms) update the CCL register fields within each unit. The change in value of CURRENT_POWER will cause the CCL in each unit to interrupt the CPU. The CCL register fields will have the values shown in FIG. 20.

[0172] The CPU in Unit-2 will take no action since it will be powered-off. The CPUs in units 0, 1 and 3 will respond to the interrupt by reading the CCL registers. Since CURRENT_CTRL=4b1111 and CURRENT_POWER=4′b1011, the CPUs will conclude that Unit-2 is powered-down and the cascade must be healed. In this example, since HEAL=0 there are no ‘missing-cable’ failures within the cascade.

[0173] The CPU in Unit-0 will note (from the CURRENT_POWER field) that it is not adjacent to the powered-down unit and so has sufficient information to put its data-path in the ‘bypass’ mode. The CPU achieves this by enabling a special mode within the Switching Engine. Any packets received on ports C and D (the right-most ports in FIG. 3) of the cascade must re-transmitted on those ports without lookup. The CPU also adjusts the cascade hashing-algorithm such that cascade packets (other than those received on ports C and D of the cascade) are only transmitted on ports A and B. The CPU controls the Switching Engine modes and cascade hashing-algorithm by writing to control registers within the switch ASIC.

[0174] The CPU in Unit-1 will note that it is adjacent to the powered-down unit and must heal the cascade by looping-back the data-path. The CPU achieves loop-back by adjusting the cascade hashing-algorithm such that packets are only transmitted on ports C and D (the right-most ones in FIG. 3).

[0175] The CPU in Unit-3 will note that it is adjacent to the powered-down unit and must heal the cascade by looping-back the data-path. The CPU adjusts the cascade hashing-algorithm such that packets are only transmitted on ports A and B. The CPUs in each of units 0, 1 and 3 will also perform the following tasks:

[0176] (a) The CPU will set a switching engine control-register such that the Box Bit Mask of transmitted (or re-transmitted) packets does not have a bit set for Unit-2. Any packets with no BBM bits set will be discarded, as indicated in FIG. 5. This will quickly purge the cascade of packets destined only for Unit-2.

[0177] (b) The CPU will purge the Forwarding Database of entries relating to Unit-2.

[0178] The cascade is now in Healed Mode as illustrated by the ‘Healed Ring’ in FIG. 3.

[0179] Cascade Operation in Healed Mode

[0180] In this mode, packet forwarding occurs normally, subject to the cascade loop-back and bypass operation that are enabled in the ‘Healed Mode’.

[0181] Cascade Operation in the Transition from Healed to Normal Mode

[0182] Consider the stack of switch units in FIG. 3. The CCLs in each unit will have the register fields shown in FIG. 20. Now consider that the power for Unit-2 is reconnected and the unit powers-up. The CCL signalling mechanism will quickly (within approximately 2 ms) update the CCL register fields within each unit. The change in value of CURRENT_POWER will cause the CCL in each unit to interrupt the CPU. The CCL register fields will have the values shown in FIG. 19. The CPUs in all units will respond to the interrupt by reading the CCL registers. The interrupt response time of the CPU in Unit-2 is likely to be slower (due a delay caused by the power-up sequence) than that of units 0, 1 and 3. Since both CURRENT_CTRL and CURRENT_POWER equal 4′b1111 all CPUs will conclude that there are four units in the cascade and they are all powered up. Since HEAL=0 the CPUs will also conclude that there are no “missing-cable” failures within the cascade. The CPU in Unit-0 will disable the by-pass mode of the data-path. The CPU will also adjust the casacade hashing-algorithm such that cascade packets are transmitted on all four cascade ports (A, B, C and D).

[0183] The CPU in units 1 and 3 change their cascade hashing-algorithm such that cascade packets are transmitted on all four cascade ports (A, B, C and D). This will effectively disable the data-path loop-back.

[0184] The CPU in Unit-2 will set its cascade hashing-algorithm such that cascade packets are transmitted on all four cascade ports (A, B, C and D). The data-path by-pass mode will remain disabled (the default configuration).

[0185] Since Units 0, 1 and 3 respond to the CCL interrupt much more quickly than Unit-2 it is possible that these units will heal the data-path (to include Unit-2) before Unit-2 is able to switch packets. This could result in the loss of cascade packets for a short period of time. It may be advantageous to delay the healing of the data-path until Unit-2 is fully functioning.

[0186] The CPUs in all units 0, 1 and 3 also perform the following tasks:

[0187] (a) The CPU must set a switching engine control-register such that the Box Bit Mask of transmitted (or re-transmitted) packets allows bits to be set for all powered-up units (including Unit-2).

[0188] (b) The CPU must permit the learning of address associated with Unit-2.

[0189] The cascade is now in Normal Mode as illustrated by the stack labelled ‘Normal Operation’ in FIG. 2.

[0190] Cascade Operation in the Transition from Normal to Healed Mode (Due to Missing Cable)

[0191] Consider the stack of switch units in FIG. 2 labelled ‘Normal Operation’. The CCLs in each unit will have the register fields shown in FIG. 19.

[0192] Now consider that the cable between Unit-1 and Unit-2 is removed. The CCL signalling mechanism will quickly (within approximately 2 ms) update the CCL register fields within each unit. The CCL register fields will have the values shown in FIG. 21. The change in the value of HEAL will cause the CCL in each unit to interrupt the CPU.

[0193] The CPUs in all units will respond to the interrupt by reading the CCL registers. Since CURRENT_CTRL 4′b1111, CURRENT_POWER=4′b1111 and HEAL=1, the CPUs will conclude that the failure is due to a missing cable.

[0194] The CPUs in Unit-0 and Unit-3 will note that they are not adjacent to the missing cable (since their CTRL_OK_UP and CTRL_OK_DOWN are both 1). The data paths of units 0 and 3 will be placed in bypass mode. The CPU achieves this by enabling a special mode within the switching engine. Any packets received on ports C and D (the right-most ports in FIG. 2) of the cascade must re-transmitted on those ports without lookup. The CPU also adjusts the cascade hashing-algorithm such that cascade packets (other than those received on ports C and D of the cascade) are only transmitted on ports A and B. The CPU controls the switching engine modes and cascade hashing-algorithm by writing to control registers within the switch ASIC.

[0195] The CPU in Unit-1 will note that it is adjacent to the missing cable (since CTRL_OK_UP=0) and it must heal the cascade by looping back the data path. The CPU achieves loop-back by adjusting the cascade hashing-algorithm such that packets are transmitted only on ports C and D (the right-most ones in FIG. 2).

[0196] The CPU in Unit-2 will note that it is adjacent to the missing cable (since CTRL_OK_DOWN=0) and it will heal the cascade by looping back the data path. The CPU achieves loop-back by adjusting the cascade hashing-algorithm such that packets are transmitted only on ports A and B. The cascade is now in Healed Mode. 

1. A stackable network unit including: a multiplicity of ports for receiving and forwarding data packets and at least one cascade port for the transmission of data packets to and from other units in a stack; and control logic for forwarding control messages to and receiving control messages from the next succeeding and the next following units in the stack by way, of a respective half-duplex control link; wherein the control logic is responsive to the absence of control messages from one or other of the control links to redirect control data intended for that control link to the other control link.
 2. A stackable network unit according to claim 1 wherein the control data identifies which units are active in said stack.
 3. A stackable network unit according to claim 1 wherein the network unit includes means responsive to control data from said messages for controlling the forwarding of data packets from the cascade port.
 4. A stackable network unit including: a multiplicity of ports for receiving and forwarding data packets; and at least two cascade ports for the transmission of data packets to and from other units in a stack; control logic for forwarding control messages to and receiving control messages from the next succeeding and the next following units in the stack, said control messages including operational status information; and a switching engine for directing packets received at a port of said unit to at least one other port of said unit; wherein the unit is responsive to control data from said messages to control the switching engine to redirect data packets otherwise intended for one cascade port to a different cascade port.
 5. A stackable network unit according to claim 4 wherein the control logic is responsive to the absence of control messages from an adjacent unit to loop back control data intended for that unit.
 6. A stackable network unit according to claim 4 wherein the unit is responsive to particular control data from said messages for inhibiting the operation of the switching engine such that it does not redirect data packets.
 7. A stackable network unit according to claim 4 wherein the unit includes a processor which has recourse to registers which store the control data.
 8. A control device for transmitting and receiving control frames of status and control data for a cascaded stack of network units, comprising: means for transmitting control frames and receiving control frames at a first port; means for receiving and transmitting control frames at a second port; means for detecting absence of valid control frames at the first port to cause loop-back of data intended for the first port to provide control frames forwarded from the second port; and means for detecting absence of valid control frames at the second port to cause loop-back of data intended for the second port to provide control frames forwarded from said first port.
 9. A control device according to claim 8 and further comprising: first storage means for storing data from control frames receiving at said second port and for providing data for control frames forwarded from the first port; and second storage means for storing data from control frames receiving at said first port and for providing data for control frames forwarded from said second port; wherein the loop-back of data intended for the first port extends from the first storage means to the second storage means and the loop-back of data intended for the second port extends from the second storage means to the first storage means.
 10. A control device according to claim 9 wherein: the first storage means comprises a first set of registers for data from control frames received at the second port and a second set of registers for providing data for control frames forwarded from the first port; the second storage means comprises a third set of registers for data received from control frames at the first port; and wherein the second set of registers and the first port are selectively coupled to the third set of storage registers and the third set of storage registers and the second port are selectively coupled to the first set of storage registers.
 11. A stack of network units comprising: a plurality of network units, each network unit including a multiplicity of ports including at least one cascade port for receiving and forwarding addressed data packets and a switching engine responsive to address data within packets to direct packets received by the network unit to at least one of the ports; at least one cascade data path for the transmission of address data packets between the network units, including at least one cascade port on each network unit and communication links which couple a cascade port of one network unit to a cascade port of the next network unit; a control device for each network unit, these control devices providing a control path for the transmission of control frames including control data between the network units, each control device comprising means for transmitting control frames to the control device of the adjacent succeeding network unit and receiving control frames therefrom and means for receiving control frames from the control device of the adjacent previous network unit and transmitting control frames thereto and means responsive to the absence of control frames from one or other of the adjacent network units to cause loop-back of control data instead of forwarding control frames to the respective adjacent network unit; and means responsive to control data from said control frames to alter the operation of the switching engine in respect of directing data packets to the cascade port.
 12. A stack according to claim 11 wherein each network unit has at least two cascade ports and each unit is responsive to control data from said messages to control the switching engine to redirect data packets otherwise intended for one cascade port of the network unit to a different cascade port of the same network unit. 